Hinesville mayor addresses Army on possible Fort Stewart reductions

HINESVILLE, Ga. (WJCL) – The mayor of Hinesville of calling on the public to remind the Army of just how important two local bases are to the local economy – and pleading with the government not to move forward with a possible 16,000 troop reduction.

In a letter directly to Army headquarters, Mayor Jim Thomas Jr. tells the Army that the populations at both Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield are vital to the city and the region.

“The economic losses to the community and the surrounding communities would be catastrophic,” Thomas said. “The economic impact would be greater than $1 billion dollars in lost income from the loss of the soldiers and $4 billion in economic impact to the entire coastal region of Georgia. The loss would also affect the 10,000 military retirees in the local areas and approximately 50,000 military retirees that Fort Stewart currently supports.”

The move could also impact the security of the nation he said.and “irreplaceable” in the security of the nation.

“The effects of the decrease will impact the overall readiness of the entire nation if Fort Stwart closes or loses significant numbers of troops,” Thomas said. “Fort Stewart has 280,000 acres of training land that cannot be replicated on the East Coast of the U.S.”

He also pointed out that the Third Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart has the only readily available armor units for use by the National Command Authority on the east coast.